CHAMPAIGN — The start of practices and, therefore, the official start of the basketball season always gets Brad Underwood excited. The Illinois coach referred to it like being a kid in a candy store before his first season with the Illini.
This year? Underwood was awake — and more than ready — at 4:10 a.m. Tuesday before Illinois' morning practice.
Underwood's excitement for Illinois' first practice was really all that was the same. It's a new team featuring six freshmen and eight total newcomer scholarship players. That's created an entirely different vibe — one led by the smaller group of returning players but added to by the newest Illini.